1. Describe the stasis in the play: where, when, who, what, etc. in a paragraph. The stasis of the play takes place where character Li’l Bit grew up “Suburban Maryland,” but mainly in a car. Throughout the play, it goes from being in a car to her home, to being on the road with her uncle. It also takes place at Li’l Bit’s new school when she is older, a bar, and a hotel room. The time period ranges from the late 1960's to the late 1970's. Characters involved include Li’l Bit, her uncle Peck, and the Female and Male Chorus. Characters played by the Female and Male Greek Chorus include Li’l Bit’s mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, and teenagers at her school as part of the “Teenage Female Greek chorus.”
2. What is the intrusion? The intrusion of the play takes place when Li’l Bit asks her mom to let Uncle Peck give her driving lessons. When her mother said yes, that started Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck’s relationship to begin inside the car under the cover of driving lessons.
3. What is the unique factor? The unique factor of this play is that Li’l Bit is virtually recounting the “secret” through giving a “lesson.” Li’l Bit is telling the story that took place between herself and her uncle. The story often jumps between years to specific events that she wants to point out to the audience, and these events compile to tell the story behind the play, “How I Learned to Drive.” The unique factor, or why the play is taking place at this particular time and at all, is Li’l Bit telling her story.
4. What is the dramatic question that should be answered by the end of the play? The dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play is, “Will Li’l Bit end the relationship between herself and Uncle Peck.” When she leaves her hometown for school, her uncle begins sending her letters seemingly counting down to her eighteenth birthday. She does not reply and doesn’t come home for the holidays, which only prompts him to send more. By the time they meet in the hotel room, it all comes down to the question of whether she will cut ties with her uncle or allow it go on.
5. Provide an illustration of the two kinds of exposition that the play has in it. When it comes to the exposition that only takes place with the one character (focusing on Li’l Bit) an illustration of her exposition can be seen in the beginning of the play. She was kicked out of school, and since then she sleeps on her friends floors when she can, takes dead-end day jobs at factories, and she drives alone at night with a bottle of whiskey. This is an exposition that only happens with Li’l Bit because it takes place after the driving lessons she took with her uncle, and the negative impact that derives from that can be seen by her and the audience only. An exposition that happens to everyone in the play takes place at the dinner Li’l Bit has with her family. It includes that of the Female and Male choruses and shows that her grandfather doesn’t really care about her going to school, but sort of denounces it in a vulgar way. During this exposition, it can be seen that Li’l Bit’s viewpoints do not go hand in hand with that of the rest of her family’s.
6. Identify the most theatrical moment in the play and of what importance it seems to be. The most theatrical moment in the play takes place when Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck end up in the hotel room together. She confronts him about counting down to her birthday and tells him that the relationship they have needs to stop. What happens in the hotel room is the most theatrical moment of the play because the audience sees how Peck has affected Li’l Bit. Peck tells her he loves her and for a moment she thinks it’s alright, but then swiftly leaves. After that moment, Peck begins drinking again and dies falling down a flight of steps. Li’l Bit, who has already been kicked out of the school she wanted to go to in the beginning of the play, has become a drinker and goes to a string of dead-end jobs to stay on her feet.
7. List some of the themes of the play. Themes of the play include that of abuse and societal views. Abuse is a theme because Uncle Peck abused Li’l Bit from the time when she was eleven years old. Closer to the end of the play, Li’l Bit states that there are some questions she would like to have Uncle Peck answer. Of those questions, two that sticks out is “Who did it to you?” and “Were you eleven?” This gives the idea that maybe Uncle Peck was abused by someone else, and that prompted him to have the mindset he did, to believe, if he did, that he loved Li’l Bit. Societal views are also a part of the play because it of the Female and Male choruses that play characters such as Li’l Bit’s mother, grandmother, and grandfather. For instance, Li’l Bit’s mother tells her that whatever Uncle Peck tries to do to her in the car is Li’l Bit’s responsibility. This shows the idea that still lives in some members of society in which abuse is the victim’s fault. Her grandfather had very old views as well.
8. Choose the character of Li'l Bit in the show and articulate what she wants and what are some obstacles that stand in the way of her getting what she wants? Obstacles Li’l Bit faces include the “me against myself,” obstacle, the “me against society,” obstacle, and the “me against another individual” obstacle as well. Li’l Bit faces the “me against myself,” obstacle through her relationship with her uncle. Throughout the events that take place, it seems as though she doesn’t think that all that is happening is all bad. She doesn’t tell anyone about it, and only ends the relationship years later when she is older and truly understands what is happening. The “me against society,” obstacle comes from when Li’l Bit was at dinner with her family or at the dance at her school. During the dinner, Li’l Bit faces off with her grandfather and his dark views that would have been more widely accepted during his younger years. When Li’l Bit is at her school dance, she says no to a boy when he asks her on more than one occasion to dance. The Teenage Female Chorus tells her that she should say yes, but Li’l Bit knows why he is asking her and decides against it, despite the Teenage Female Chorus’s prompting. In the “me against another individual,” obstacle, Li’l Bit faces that between herself and her grandfather and her pedophilic uncle. She does not agree with her grandfather at the dinner because his views are very old and wrong, it isn’t hard to see him as another antagonist in the play. She also has a “me against another individual” obstacle with her grandfather as well. He tries to make the relationship something that it isn’t (true love, etc.) and she finally decides to walk away from him years later when she is old enough to understand exactly what happened.
9. Describe some possible images in the play and how does the title help us understand the play. Possible images in the play include the car Li’l Bit and her uncle drove together, the hotel room, and the whiskey. The car Li’l Bit and her uncle drove together from the outside looks like a car they did the driving lessons in. When the audience reads the play and sort of explores further, they see that the car is where everything went wrong. In that car, it was easy for her uncle to begin the relationship they had, and take them both down a dark path. That car is where Li’l Bit was sexually abused from the time she was eleven to when she left for school. The hotel room on the outside is just that, but when the audience explores further, they see that this is where Li’l Bit breaks away from the relationship between her uncle and herself. This is where Uncle Peck loses touch with her and ends up drinking himself to death in the course of seven years. The whiskey is also an image because on the outside it is a drink, but it also shows that Li’l Bit ended up with an alcohol problem the same as her uncle. The title plays a part in helping the audience understand that Li’l Bit learned to drive while she was sexually harassed by her uncle. The title holds a sort of emphasis on the dark story the audience is about to see take place.
10. Briefly define the family relationships that are examined in the play. The family relationships in this play are that of a mother, father, daughter, grandparents, aunt and uncle. However, what looks like a large and close family is not actually the case. From reading the play, it looks more like they were related, but either they didn’t agree or they didn’t speak with each other. No one in the family really knew what was going on with Li’l Bit and her uncle, and her mother told her it was on her what happened between them. It looked like things were swept under the rug, such as her grandfather’s misogynistic views, and what Peck was doing to Li’l Bit. Her aunt had an idea what was going on and virtually blamed Li’l Bit for it as well or just didn’t look into it enough.
The stasis of the play takes place where character Li’l Bit grew up “Suburban Maryland,” but mainly in a car. Throughout the play, it goes from being in a car to her home, to being on the road with her uncle. It also takes place at Li’l Bit’s new school when she is older, a bar, and a hotel room. The time period ranges from the late 1960's to the late 1970's. Characters involved include Li’l Bit, her uncle Peck, and the Female and Male Chorus. Characters played by the Female and Male Greek Chorus include Li’l Bit’s mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, and teenagers at her school as part of the “Teenage Female Greek chorus.”
2. What is the intrusion?
The intrusion of the play takes place when Li’l Bit asks her mom to let Uncle Peck give her driving lessons. When her mother said yes, that started Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck’s relationship to begin inside the car under the cover of driving lessons.
3. What is the unique factor?
The unique factor of this play is that Li’l Bit is virtually recounting the “secret” through giving a “lesson.” Li’l Bit is telling the story that took place between herself and her uncle. The story often jumps between years to specific events that she wants to point out to the audience, and these events compile to tell the story behind the play, “How I Learned to Drive.” The unique factor, or why the play is taking place at this particular time and at all, is Li’l Bit telling her story.
4. What is the dramatic question that should be answered by the end of the play?
The dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play is, “Will Li’l Bit end the relationship between herself and Uncle Peck.” When she leaves her hometown for school, her uncle begins sending her letters seemingly counting down to her eighteenth birthday. She does not reply and doesn’t come home for the holidays, which only prompts him to send more. By the time they meet in the hotel room, it all comes down to the question of whether she will cut ties with her uncle or allow it go on.
5. Provide an illustration of the two kinds of exposition that the play has in it.
When it comes to the exposition that only takes place with the one character (focusing on Li’l Bit) an illustration of her exposition can be seen in the beginning of the play. She was kicked out of school, and since then she sleeps on her friends floors when she can, takes dead-end day jobs at factories, and she drives alone at night with a bottle of whiskey. This is an exposition that only happens with Li’l Bit because it takes place after the driving lessons she took with her uncle, and the negative impact that derives from that can be seen by her and the audience only. An exposition that happens to everyone in the play takes place at the dinner Li’l Bit has with her family. It includes that of the Female and Male choruses and shows that her grandfather doesn’t really care about her going to school, but sort of denounces it in a vulgar way. During this exposition, it can be seen that Li’l Bit’s viewpoints do not go hand in hand with that of the rest of her family’s.
6. Identify the most theatrical moment in the play and of what importance it seems to be.
The most theatrical moment in the play takes place when Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck end up in the hotel room together. She confronts him about counting down to her birthday and tells him that the relationship they have needs to stop. What happens in the hotel room is the most theatrical moment of the play because the audience sees how Peck has affected Li’l Bit. Peck tells her he loves her and for a moment she thinks it’s alright, but then swiftly leaves. After that moment, Peck begins drinking again and dies falling down a flight of steps. Li’l Bit, who has already been kicked out of the school she wanted to go to in the beginning of the play, has become a drinker and goes to a string of dead-end jobs to stay on her feet.
7. List some of the themes of the play.
Themes of the play include that of abuse and societal views. Abuse is a theme because Uncle Peck abused Li’l Bit from the time when she was eleven years old. Closer to the end of the play, Li’l Bit states that there are some questions she would like to have Uncle Peck answer. Of those questions, two that sticks out is “Who did it to you?” and “Were you eleven?” This gives the idea that maybe Uncle Peck was abused by someone else, and that prompted him to have the mindset he did, to believe, if he did, that he loved Li’l Bit. Societal views are also a part of the play because it of the Female and Male choruses that play characters such as Li’l Bit’s mother, grandmother, and grandfather. For instance, Li’l Bit’s mother tells her that whatever Uncle Peck tries to do to her in the car is Li’l Bit’s responsibility. This shows the idea that still lives in some members of society in which abuse is the victim’s fault. Her grandfather had very old views as well.
8. Choose the character of Li'l Bit in the show and articulate what she wants and what are some obstacles that stand in the way of her getting what she wants?
Obstacles Li’l Bit faces include the “me against myself,” obstacle, the “me against society,” obstacle, and the “me against another individual” obstacle as well. Li’l Bit faces the “me against myself,” obstacle through her relationship with her uncle. Throughout the events that take place, it seems as though she doesn’t think that all that is happening is all bad. She doesn’t tell anyone about it, and only ends the relationship years later when she is older and truly understands what is happening. The “me against society,” obstacle comes from when Li’l Bit was at dinner with her family or at the dance at her school. During the dinner, Li’l Bit faces off with her grandfather and his dark views that would have been more widely accepted during his younger years. When Li’l Bit is at her school dance, she says no to a boy when he asks her on more than one occasion to dance. The Teenage Female Chorus tells her that she should say yes, but Li’l Bit knows why he is asking her and decides against it, despite the Teenage Female Chorus’s prompting. In the “me against another individual,” obstacle, Li’l Bit faces that between herself and her grandfather and her pedophilic uncle. She does not agree with her grandfather at the dinner because his views are very old and wrong, it isn’t hard to see him as another antagonist in the play. She also has a “me against another individual” obstacle with her grandfather as well. He tries to make the relationship something that it isn’t (true love, etc.) and she finally decides to walk away from him years later when she is old enough to understand exactly what happened.
9. Describe some possible images in the play and how does the title help us understand the play.
Possible images in the play include the car Li’l Bit and her uncle drove together, the hotel room, and the whiskey. The car Li’l Bit and her uncle drove together from the outside looks like a car they did the driving lessons in. When the audience reads the play and sort of explores further, they see that the car is where everything went wrong. In that car, it was easy for her uncle to begin the relationship they had, and take them both down a dark path. That car is where Li’l Bit was sexually abused from the time she was eleven to when she left for school. The hotel room on the outside is just that, but when the audience explores further, they see that this is where Li’l Bit breaks away from the relationship between her uncle and herself. This is where Uncle Peck loses touch with her and ends up drinking himself to death in the course of seven years. The whiskey is also an image because on the outside it is a drink, but it also shows that Li’l Bit ended up with an alcohol problem the same as her uncle. The title plays a part in helping the audience understand that Li’l Bit learned to drive while she was sexually harassed by her uncle. The title holds a sort of emphasis on the dark story the audience is about to see take place.
10. Briefly define the family relationships that are examined in the play.
The family relationships in this play are that of a mother, father, daughter, grandparents, aunt and uncle. However, what looks like a large and close family is not actually the case. From reading the play, it looks more like they were related, but either they didn’t agree or they didn’t speak with each other. No one in the family really knew what was going on with Li’l Bit and her uncle, and her mother told her it was on her what happened between them. It looked like things were swept under the rug, such as her grandfather’s misogynistic views, and what Peck was doing to Li’l Bit. Her aunt had an idea what was going on and virtually blamed Li’l Bit for it as well or just didn’t look into it enough.